Food-as-medicine start-up Solarea Bio raises $11.2m in Series A

The biotech company develops microbiome-based solutions to some of the world’s largest health problems

S2G Ventures and Bold Capital Partners have joined forces to lead the Series A of Solarea Bio, a US-based biotech company leading innovation in the food-as-medicine space. The company raised $11.2 million in the round with the participation of existing investors Gisev family office and Viking Global Investors.

“We are very excited for Solarea to enter this stage with such a great team of investors,” said Gerardo Toledo, Solarea’s chief executive and co-founder. 

Toledo explained the team is aligned in the view of the future of food as medicine and the process to develop and commercialise novel microbial-based solutions. “We see a clear link between analysing healthy foods and creating new products to improve the lives of patients in need,” he added.

Solarea was founded in 2017 by a group of scientists and entrepreneurs eager to radically alter our understanding of the human microbiome and utilise its power to improve human health. 

Its breakthrough came from the combined efforts of the company’s co-founders who established a link between the discovery of an untapped source of microorganisms with probiotic potential in healthy foods, and their applications in inflammatory processes including the gut-musculoskeletal axis. 

Solarea Bio: How it works

Solarea uses powerful genomic and bioinformatic tools, mining a novel collection of microbial strains to identify synergistic combinations of microbes and prebiotic plant fibre to develop solutions for patients suffering from inflammatory processes.

Solarea’s first application aims to aid in the dietary management of the metabolic processes that cause osteopenia and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. This provides a nature-based solution to improving women’s health and well-being.

Matthew Walker, managing director at S2G Ventures, said: “As we continue to see a convergence between food and medicine, we’re delighted to partner with Bold Capital, Viking Global, and the Gisev family office to help support this exceptional team in their mission to use food-based tools to improve human health.”

Solarea’s solutions have been validated in-vitro and in-vivo in preclinical mouse models. The company said it will use the proceeds from its Series A round to advance its musculoskeletal product, SBD111, through clinical proof of activity trial as well as continue the discovery and development of its ongoing pipeline of microbial-based products.

“Solarea is a quintessential Bold portfolio company,” said Neal Bhadkamkar, general partner at Bold. “A passionate and deeply knowledgeable team, seeking to create meaningful societal impact by harnessing the power of exponential technologies, in this case, sequencing and computational biology. We are eager to see Solarea’s first products get to market and improve the bone health of millions of women and men worldwide,” he concluded.